Defenders of the Ancients
by Virgil Konings
Summary: Defenders of the Ancients, the Sentinel's last chance to defend their World Tree against the Scourge of the Lich King.
1. Chapter 1: Brew master’s wish

Prologue

As the Lich King's forces advanced more and more into Azeroth, nothing could stop his force. Eventually he had reached Teldrassil to take over one of the world's most valuable points; The World Tree. The Sentinel is now at the point that half of Teldrassil is taken over by the plaguing lands of the Scourge and all of their forces are located at the base of the World Tree to defend their most important point and to kill the Lich King to rid the world of the undead. The Lich King himself enjoyed seeing the Sentinel defend against the forces of the Scourge at the base of the World Tree. He decided to order his men to bring the Frozen Throne to the Scourge's base in Teldrassil, to 'make things more interesting'. This follows the story of Mangix, who is one of the heroes who join in to fight against the Scourge.

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**Defenders of the Ancients**

**The war between the vigilant Sentinel and the unstoppable Scourge**

**Chapter 1: Brew master's wish**

"Shendelzare, it's now way past schedule! What are you doing in there?" Mirana, the High Priestess of Elune shouted on her well-earned tiger mount. Shendelzare opened her tent and came out, not even bothering to look at Mirana. She looked around her who was appointing her and didn't seem to realize it was Mirana, so she the vengeful spirit just grabbed her teapot and walked towards the main campfire.

"So now you just think you can just do whatever you want to?!" Mirana said as she followed Shendelzare. "You're too much of loose cannon! Maybe Elune made a mistake." Shendelzare immediately turned to Mirana, she was serious now.

"Never dare to say that again, High Priestess." Shendelzare said with a hostile voice. Mirana was staring at her for a few seconds, filled with guilt now. Then Shendelzare turned back to the fire and hung her teapot over it, continuing to check all the base's defenses with Mirana following her, still.

"Forgive me, Shendelzare. But we both know that today, you have a task to complete." Mirana said with her normal voice now. "You are the leader of the Sentinel, please be cautious."

"What task?" Shendelzare asked, still always with her back facing Mirana.

"By Elune! You forgot already?!" Mirana exclaimed but not in an unfriendly way. "Do you remember the goblins that arrived here first? They've finished the Goblin zeppelin for you. You're going to recruit the new warriors to battle for the Sentinel!" Shendelzare had checked the first tower. She was now moving on to the next one.

"I remember now, thank you, High Priestess" Shendelzare said. "But don't you think we are making ourselves a fool since we follow the Scourge's idea?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the Scourge first started inviting warriors from the darkness that are strong to have a bigger advantage in the armies, causing us almost to lose this battle!" Shendelzare said.

"Vengeful one, it's an arms race, it's war. If we would not have come up with this, what could have helped us then?" Mirana exclaimed wisely.

"You're right." Shendelzare agreed. "Get me to those goblins."

"Proud warrior, you are chosen to join the Sentinel forces by this day, to bring honor to our race and to seize the battle amongst the Sentinel, the good forces." The Pandaren elder said. "We, the elders, grant you this sword to aid you in the war against the Scourge. May this be the last war to be fought with it?"

"I will not just take your expectations for granted, great elders. "Guldax said. "I will win this battle, because my heart is filled with the hope of all my people. I will leave now; I am in your debt forever after all you've done for me. Goodbye, my elders." And Guldax left off after the few days he'd been staying at the elders. Guldax was the General of the Pandaren army. It was not big, since the Pandaren kingdom was on an island where there was no war. Guldax was honored by all of the Pandaren and now he was on his way to the Harbor where he'd wait for the leader of the Sentinel to pick him up. A huge adventure was ahead of him. A stranger came up to him.

"Hey, my friend, where are you heading?" The stranger asked him spontaneously. Guldax couldn't see his face because it was covered by the stranger's big hat. Guldax was too filled with excitement to suspect anything, though.

"Oh, I'm heading over to the Harbor. I'm leaving to the World Tree in a few hours to aid the Sentinel in battle in name of our people!" Guldax exclaimed proudly.

"That's cool… Hey, what's that?" The stranger asked and pointed at the sword on Guldax' back.

"Oh, this is the sword that the elders granted me, since I'm the chosen warrior of all of us." Guldax said and he felt dreamy and good when he said those words. The stranger took his sword to examine it.

"Seems like a powerful sword." The stranger said, still admiring the weapon.

"Yes it is, in fact. All of our generations' warriors who explored the world fought with this sword in the battles!" Guldax said. He seemed like a very noble guy.

"Well… Can you do this?" The stranger said quickly and Guldax' eyes closed as he fell upon the ground.

Guldax woke up again. He was tied up in ropes in a little shelter. He looked around and saw the stranger from before sitting at a table, fixing some kind of brew.

"What have… you done?" Guldax asked, with his eyes half closed. The stranger did not bother to look at him.

"I relaxed all of your muscles. While you were off the world, I gave you a potion which will prevent you from talking for one year." The stranger said.

"What… Scourge! You are sabotage! Wait, till I tell everyone and-and the elders!" Guldax said in a very dreamy way.

"I'm Scourge? You have got it all wrong. I'm actually going to take in your place, my friend." The stranger said, now putting all his stuff on the table in a knapsack, still with his back facing Guldax. "And you won't tell anyone, remember the potion?"

"Monster!" Guldax yelled, now coming to his senses. The stranger walked to the door, holding the knob, as Guldax tried to flex his way out of the ropes, but failing.

"The potion will start working in one hour. Good luck; I'll see you after we destroyed the Frozen Throne." The stranger said, and went out. He never gave a look at Guldax, neither could Guldax see him. While this stranger was on his way to the harbor, Guldax saw him as pure evil. This was not the truth. The truth was that this stranger was a barkeep in the Stonetalon Mountains, living peacefully. On the day the elders chose their warrior, Mangix went on his way to the Pandaren Island. Once he arrived, it was too late already but he wouldn't quit that easy. He observed the elders and their chosen one's from a far and knew his looks so planned an ambush he had done today. The elders chose the general but did not know that the brew master Mangix trained for this moment all his life.

"Lady Shendelzare, your zeppelin is here and ready to go. I worked on it together with the Techies." Boush, the Tinker said as Shendelzare checked out the zeppelin. Tinker had built a robot he placed himself in and has really powerful technology. People get confused whether he uses magic because his attacks are so powerful it almost seems impossible to be done with just mechanics.

"It looks good. Thank you, Boush." Shendelzare said and climbed onto the zeppelin. It was big enough for at least 15 people to fit in.

"You accelerate with the green button, decelerate with the red one and you go into laser powered by pressing the yellow button, that's for the far distances. You should be back here in less than 2 hours thanks to my laser technology and the Techies' building abilities to help." Boush explained and Shendelzare went off.

Brew master Mangix was sitting on the harbor and got a drink from his knapsack. It was weekend; the harbor wasn't open on Saturdays. Mangix lay down as he enjoyed his drink, waiting for the transport to arrive. He was looking at the clouds and dozed off with the drink in his hand.

"Alright, here's the list of people… closest one is Tranxex, the drow ranger… Then it's the Pandaren warrior." Shendelzare said to herself and changed her direction towards Ashenvale. The World Tree was located in Teldrassil; it's one of the last stands of the Sentinel, but certainly the most important one. The Lich King ordered the Scourge to move the Frozen Throne to the Scourge's base. Apparently he wanted to make it more interesting, so he could see the Sentinel try more and fill himself with hateful joy. He also commanded this so he could easily watch over the battle and command much better. Shendelzare turned on the lasers and she flew a bit back because of the intense speed. She was struggling to get to the control panel against the wind. She saw she was flying over Ashenvale already so she quickly pressed the red button and it slowed down. She went to the furbolgs main encampment where Tranxex, the drow ranger should be located. She looked around and finally located a girl in dark clothes assaulting at least 50 furbolgs at the same time. Shendelzare stopped the zeppelin immediately, watching the show. The ranger started attack, her marksmanship was extraordinary and it amazed Shendelzare. She had very fast attacks and killed about 5 furbolgs in each of her shots. None of them missed. Shendelzare was glad for this new member to join the Sentinel. Shendelzare shouted at her, to signalize her for Shendelzare's presence. The female ranger shot an arrow with a rope attached to it, a few moments later Tranxex climbed on board.

"So, where are we heading?"

The lazy brew master was dreaming of his battle amongst Furion and Mirana and other heroes. The zeppelin arrived at the harbor. Shendelzare was looking around for the chosen warrior, as Tranxex was taking a nap. Shendelzare spotted the brew master lying on the grass. Shendelzare picked up a rock that came up with Tranxex and threw it with great accuracy at the Panda. Mangix woke up and looked around him, spotting the zeppelin and being filled with joy. He had to stay cool, though, because he had to seem like a warrior that's fought a thousand battles. Shendelzare lowered the zeppelin as the brew master silently climbed on. His journey had begun.


	2. Chapter 2: Uniting Heroes

**Defenders of the Ancients**

**The war between the vigilant Sentinel and the unstoppable Scourge**

**Chapter 2: Heroes Uniting**

Mangix seemed very nervous about the height. He tried to hide it, but Shendelzare and Tranxex noticed it by the Pandaren continuously looking down.

"Hey, Panda man, you okay?" Tranxex asked with a serious face. Mangix looked up, giggled nervously but the two females aboard did not feel the need to laugh.

"Yes, it's just that I've… I've never been on a goblin zeppelin before!" Mangix quickly made up. Shendelzare started moving the zeppelin as Mangix was halfway on the ladder. It was windy and Mangix could see himself moving away from the Pandaren Island, going over the sea. He was not a very good swimmer and was terrified of the position he was currently in.

"Please, warrior, hurry, we have not all day." Shendelzare requested.

Mangix closed his eyes with force and made a fast climb over the leather, weak ladder. He came aboard in a few seconds, exhausted inside, but not showing it to Shendelzare and Tranxex. Tranxex was sitting against the small zeppelin's wooden wall, adjusting her magnificent bow. Shendelzare came towards Mangix; she was a strange-looking night elf with dark blue armor.

_"Whoa… This is the leader of the Sentinel's army… She must be very powerful!" Mangix thought to himself with a gulp._

"Hello, proud warrior, my name is Shendelzare; I'm the general of the Sentinel's army at the World Tree. What is your name?" Shendelzare said friendly.

"I'm M-Mangix! The chosen warrior of all Pandaren there are!" Mangix lied. He had no trouble with lying about his true self because, in his eyes, he was truly the chosen one.

"Welcome to the Sentinel, Mangix. This is Tranxex, an ally who you will be aiding on the battlefields against the Scourge. Now we must be heading to the dangerous lands of Tanaris, to seek the one called Juggernaut." Shendelzare said and she turned away, walked towards the control panel.

"Pandaren, can you rotate the zeppelin 90 degrees to the south?" Shendelzare asked. Mangix went to the back of the zeppelin and turned the zeppelin with the steer.

"Thank you. Hold on tight, Mangix, this may be a surprise to you." And Shendelzare pressed the yellow button. Mangix almost flew off the zeppelin, he was holding onto the small side-wall of the zeppelin as his last resort. He could not bear the wind in his face, so he looked down quickly. He saw the lands change within seconds and felt like throwing up. Shendelzare pressed the red button and there they were, above Tanaris. The scorpions and oversized insects were crawling all over the place. Sandstorms were taking place in the ruins of Dunemaul, where the ogres reside.

"Okay. Assist me in finding Yurnero, which is his name, please. He is a red orcish warrior with a blade." Shendelzare said and she and Mangix started looking for Juggernaut. Tranxex was fast asleep and they didn't want to wake her up.

The wind started to rise and the sand rose. It made it harder to spot objects, let alone Juggernaut.

"There he is! That's him, right?" Mangix suddenly said after he looks at one specific place for a long time. Shendelzare responded, walked to Mangix and looked at the spot he pointed. They saw a red orc, who was meditating in the middle of the desert-land; Tanaris. He had a big, heavy-looking blade on his back and he was in the meditating position on the floor. Mangix was about to shout at him but Shendelzare stopped him, indicating the pack of oversized scorpions approaching the orc.

"Let us see what he can do." Shendelzare said and Mangix agreed. Mangix was quite anticipated to see one of his future colleagues' skills in combat. He wondered if he could match him or if he was better than him or not. The scorpions crawled with complete silence, so that you could only hear the whistling winds of Tanaris. Mangix started showing doubt in his face as the red orc was still there, with his eyes closed, meditating, while the scorpions were still approaching on to his back. Shendelzare showed no thoughts, she had patience. The scorpions stopped, now almost touching the red orc's back. The leader of the pack went for the first sting, preparing his attack. Mangix was worried now as he knew that the Juggernaut was in great danger and wanted to warn him with his shout, but Shendelzare stopped him again.

"Do not underestimate the heroes you will do battle with." And Mangix nodded, still worried sick.

The first scorpion jumped for it, Mangix' heart skipped two beats. There was now a sand cloud, where the scorpions and the orc were. Mangix was confused now.

_"What the hell happened?" Mangix thought to himself while he tried to look for his answer._

The sand started reducing and Mangix expected a dead red orc or a red orc trying to fight for his last breaths. He saw none of both. All Shendelzare and Mangix saw were the dead bodies of all 8 scorpions and the red orc, in the same position, meditating. Mangix could not believe his eyes, was it a desert mirage or an illusion? But Shendelzare shared the same sight.

"Quite a show, you seem to prove your title, Yurnero." Shendelzare shouted down at the red orc.

"Thank you. I will be coming up in a few minutes." Yurnero said, still with his eyes closed, facing the zeppelin with his back, meditating. Shendelzare nodded. Mangix was still overwhelmed by what just happened. He still couldn't figure what could've happened. Yurnero jumped aboard the zeppelin and introduced himself, so did Mangix and Shendelzare, not Tranxex, who was still asleep.

"We will now be heading to Onyxia's lair. We have to find Razzil Darkbrew, the Alchemist and Rexxar, the Beastmaster. They are attempting to journey through Onyxia's lair and to kill her after." Shendelzare read from the paper she had. She requested Mangix to turn the zeppelin a 106 degrees to the north and then she went into laser mode again. She pressed the red button after a second or two because Onyxia's lair was not far away. They flew at normal speed over the swamps for a little while and then saw the entrance to Onyxia's lair. They hovered above it, waiting. Yurnero was meditating, Tranxex was sleeping, Shendelzare was scouting the entrance and Mangix was admiring Yurnero with fear. Shendelzare noticed the two tents set up not far away from the entrance with the campfire, assuming it would be their new two members' property. They were waiting for quite a while but then, finally, saw the two running out of Onyxia's lair, exhausted. There was a loud growling noise coming from inside the dungeon. They rested for a bit, from their running, apparently and then they noticed the zeppelin.

"Greetings, you must be Razzil and Rexxar?" Shendelzare asked down on to them.

"Yes, we are!" Razzil said quickly.

"Could you please put down the ladder, now? We need to get aboard." Razzil requested and Shendelzare did so. An orc with a big backpack and an orc with a bestial-looking suit came aboard their zeppelin. They looked violent and strong, just like everyone else, thought Mangix. The two introduced their selves and so did the rest to them, except for Tranxex.

"Now, we need to find Slithice, the Naga Siren and Lina Inverse, the Slayer somewhere in Durotar. After that, we need to seek the one called Earthshaker and then we can be heading back to the Sentinel's base at the World Tree." Shendelzare said, requested Mangix to turn the zeppelin a little to the north and then went into laser mode again. This time, Mangix resisted it fully, he was proud of himself but the zeppelin slowed down fast. They went over a valley in Durotar and noticed a little house in the middle of the earth located there. Shendelzare turned the zeppelin to go straight at it. They were hovering right in front of the house; Shendelzare put the ladder down and climbed down herself. Shendelzare stood in the warm climate of Durotar, knocking on the door.

There was no response for a while. Nobody responded from the small house. She knocked again. She waited. A big breaking noise came from the door and it went over in a flash. Next moment, Shendelzare saw herself on the verge of death, nearly dodged a spear that came through the door that was now hanging through the door. Shendelzare processed the event, stood up and opened the door. She looked inside and saw nothing but darkness.

"Your kind shall not survive after my wrath is unleashed, foolish one." A cold voice whispered from inside the house.

"Worry not, Naga Siren. We are the Sentinel; we are here to pick you up. Will you follow us?" Shendelzare asked, leaping forward in front of the doorway. There was a moment of silence now. A young female naga came out of the house and Shendelzare greeted her.

"I apologize, lady Silkwood but my trust has been determined by the hateful Scourge." The naga said, as she pulled out her spear from the door.

"Forgive me, my name is Slithice. I will join your battle against the Scourge." Slithice turned to Shendelzare and gave her a smile. They went aboard the zeppelin and the introductions repeated their selves.

"Now, then… Only one more left; Lina Inverse, the infamous Slayer." Shendelzare read off her list again. She walked towards the control panel and warned Slithice for the impact, then pressed the yellow button, as they were already facing the correct direction.

In less than a few seconds they were above Orgrimmar and Shendelzare went down again, since nobody offered to find Lina instead. In the middle of Orgrimmar, Shendelzare landed from the ladder with the paper in her hand. A couple of grunts panicked and surrounded Shendelzare because of the unexpected surprise.

"You have a lot of guts, night elf! Barging into Orgrimmar all by yourself, you were not destined to get far!" One male grunt said as the other grunts also surrounding her, agreed with cheering.

"I'm the Sentinel's army's leader. You should not bother me in my quest." Shendelzare said solidly and the grunts backed off, apologizing quietly and moving back to their posts and patrols. Shendelzare read from the paper that Lina Inverse, the Slayer, is often found in pubs. Shendelzare looked around and saw a little liquor shop that was unnoticeable. She looked closely and saw that there was a high elf who was drunk, fighting with the bartender. Shendelzare walked in and observed the fight.

"You motherless orc! I have paid you several tons of gold for this… hic! ...Alcohol!" The female high elf shouted at the orcish barkeep.

"Paid me?! You just barged in here, saying a powerful sorcerer would come and pay for your debt! Now, you've been in here for almost a day and you almost drank through half of my stock!" The orc shouted angrily. The high elf was out of balance and she wasn't very conscious either.

"Lies!" the high elf shouted as she took a sip from her drink. The orc was enraged now.

"I'm going to call the grunts, just you wait, fool!" Shouted the barkeep furiously and headed for the doorway.

"No, I'm the sorceress." Shendelzare suddenly said.

"What?" The orc turned to Shendelzare with a bizarre face.

"I will pay. How much would that be?" The high elf was surprised, even though 90% of her brain was disabled.

"In total, it would be around 600gold…" The orc said, not expecting her to have that amount of money, being irritated because Shendelzare was wasting his time.

"This is about it, I think." Shendelzare said, as she gave a big, heavy bag to the orc. The orc could barely carry it and he walked towards his bar and opened it. Shendelzare walked towards the high elf and she carried her on her back. She walked out of the door with the high elf, who passed out, on her back.

"Wait, this is 2000gold!" the barkeep shouted and ran outside, but all he saw was the crowd of Orgrimmar and the sunny sky.


	3. Chapter 3: Death lies within the fores

**Defenders of the Ancients**

**The war between the vigilant Sentinel and the unstoppable Scourge**

**Chapter 3: Death lies within the forest**

"Our encampment is going to be a little crowded for today. All the just recruited allies will be there today." Shendelzare said as they could see the World Tree from a distance. Mangix started getting more and more excited the closer they got.

"My adventure lies there… That's where I will be experiencing the moments of my life!" Mangix thought to himself and he imagined himself fighting amongst Shendelzare and Furion against the Lich King. It was not long until they reached the encampment. Most of the new recruits were already there, checking out the whole base or talking to one another. The lands of the Sentinel and the World Tree were a magnificent sight to experience. The forests were crowded with the ever-singing, shy wisps, the wind blew the grass pleasantly and the armies of the Sentinel were content, ready for battle and proud. The zeppelin stopped above the little spot where Boush and the techies built the zeppelin. Boush was waiting to see the results of his creation and seemed quite proud of it. The zeppelin landed softly on the grass and the members aboard started unloading.

"It's quite a surprise you made it back." Boush said, teasing.

"If we didn't, it would hurt your reputation quite badly, would it not?" Shendelzare said cleverly.

"It's not about my reputation, General Silkwood. It's about my capabilities." Boush said and lead the group of new members to the rest of the new members.

Mangix' heart was pounding loudly. He was even wondering whether the ones around could hear it. Everything felt amazing to him. The grass under his furry legs, the wind in his hair, and the fulfillment of this achievement he earned all felt insanely magnificent to him. He felt weak amongst the other great warriors, though, but he was enjoying his moment. The other group of people even looked stronger than the group Mangix travelled with. There was a black void spirit-looking with minions following him, who looked extremely powerful. There was an ethereal wizard who seemed extremely powerful, too. There were many others that just looked strong, already, while Mangix never even went to battle yet. He started doubting his own skills at this point.

Shendelzare carried Lina Inverse to the techies. She was still drunk and unconscious but was slowly coming back to her senses as she kept on waking up and going back to sleep. The techies were fixing on one of their new experimental weapons in their tent. Shendelzare entered their tent and the techies were surprised by Shendelzare's sudden return.

"Whoa! How come you're still alive?" One of the techies exclaimed.

"Am I not supposed to?" Shendelzare asked and put Lina Inverse on the soft mat on the floor.

"Well, that tinker's technology would kill you, if we hadn't helped him. What can we do you for?" The same techie asked.

"This, here, is one of your new allies. She's completely soaked her body with alcohol; can you recover her, please?" Shendelzare asked with a blank face.

"What? We're not supposed to be able to, you know! We're engineers, not shamans." The techie said and went back to their project, with an offended face.

"But you do know about the human body. What happened to the techies with the endless source of intelligence?" Shendelzare asked.

"You think we don't have anything better to do? I'm sorry, general, but we have our things to work on." The same techie said, after that, turning back to the mechanism.

"Then who can help Lina? We need her for the briefing." Shendelzare said, with no expression inside her voice. The techies knew Shendelzare's story and knew why she never showed emotions. Shendelzare has had a very difficult life; for she is not in her own body anymore either.

"I can help her." Mangix said, out of nowhere, he came into the tent and grabbed for his bag.

"How would you know, Pandaren?" Shendelzare wondered.

"I've had experience with alcohol in the past, general." Mangix said he didn't make it up; he just gave Shendelzare the incomplete details of his life. He went on one knee and took a small salve from his bag. Mangix had this salve for a backup if he got drunk once and he had to go battle. The salve would remove the effects of his drunken state and make him ready and concentrating. He took a little bit of the salve and rubbed it on Lina's forehead. The techies turned around, wondering whether the Pandaren's technique would work or not. Shendelzare was viewing the operation as well.

"She will come back to her senses within 5 minutes. I haven't perfected this technique yet, I still need to work on it." Mangix said and he got on his legs. Lina started moaning a little because of the headache, but that was just the first phase, Mangix knew.

"Why would you work on such things, Mangix?" Shendelzare asked. The techies nodded, agreeing with her point.

"Well, lady Silkwood," Mangix started proudly. "I practice the art of brewing and I use this certain skill in combat, too." And Shendelzare seemed impressed for second. The techies had no clue what the Pandaren was talking about.

"Alright, I'd love to see those skills put in action on the battlefield." Shendelzare said and looked at Lina. Mangix felt venom go through his body as she said that. Lina was slowly waking up, talking gibberish and opening her eyes.

"Come to the fountain of life after she woke up. We're going to brief you for your objectives and our strategies." Shendelzare said and left the tent. Lina was waking up, slowly realizing she was in a tent, looking around. The techies were bored by the situation and continued their work. Goblins did have their arrogance, as always. Mangix was staring into blank space in front of him. He couldn't care less about the world right now. He knew he messed up. How is he going to get out of this one? Now he thought to himself that it was all a stupid mistake.

"_Taking out the chosen warrior from Pandaria, taking away his voice for a year, taking his place in the Sentinel, lying about my combating skills… This was all a stupid mistake. They will have my head for this." Mangix thought to himself._

He wanted to escape, get away. He had nowhere to be alone, no private space. He was panicking.

"Where do I go? Oh… I should never have left my bar in Stonetalon…" He thought to himself and just let himself collapse, just outside of the Techies' tent.

Lina woke up properly now. She took a quick look around and noticed the Techies.

"Hey! Can you kindly tell me where I am, please?" Lina asked, fiercely.

"Calm down, high elf! You're in the Sentinel's base at the World Tree, this is our tent and you passed out or something, so this Pandaren treated you about 3 minutes ago and you have been restored from your drunken state.

"Pandaren, huh? Where is he now?" Lina asked with a plan inside her voice.

"He went out or something, not sure. You can't miss him; he's a big furry guy in black and white." Lina stood up, went outside the tent and stretched out. The beautiful scenery did not amaze her, she just looked around. She spotted the Pandaren not far away from her, sitting on the ground, staring at the grass. She went up to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked Mangix. Mangix gave no response, not even a flex.

"Listen, thanks for getting away my drunken problems, I appreciate it a lot. How did you do it?"

"I have salve."

"Oh ok, thanks." And she kissed Mangix on the cheek. Mangix felt a really warm feeling going through him, for some reason, giving him hope again. Lina walked away.

"_I never realized how pretty she is…" Mangix thought to himself._

"I'll see you around, big guy!" Lina said as she walked towards the crowd, where Mangix was asked to go to, facing her back towards Mangix. Mangix had sudden hope, he found himself not in love but interested or liking, he was not sure of his feelings.

"I must continue, I came this far, I trained so long, I can't just stop like that!"

"Okay, fellow members of the Sentinel, settle down. We have matters to discuss, regarding our strategies and tiers." Shendelzare said as the crowd quieted down. Mangix came running towards them. He saw there was a table with a map in the middle and a crowd staring at him.

"I'm… sorry. I was uh- exploring." Mangix quickly made up. The crowd stopped staring at him and Shendelzare continued.

"As I said…" Shendelzare continued her speech about the lanes of the forest being occupied by who and who. Lina got bored of the speech and quietly left the crowd to take a look at the forest. She walked through the whole camp, which was completely empty, another great sight. She reached the edge of the forest and she looked around. The forest was dark and gloomy. You might think something is luring out there. She turned around and looked at Shendelzare. They were quite far away. She turned back to the forest. An extreme force pulled her into the forest. Her mind faded into the void.


	4. Chapter 4: An unexpected guest

**Defenders of the Ancients**

**The war between the vigilant Sentinel and the unstoppable Scourge**

**Chapter 4: An unexpected visitor**

Shendelzare and the others were alerted by a loud scream from the base's edge, as they presumed it was. Shendelzare immediately started running, so did Mirana. The rest followed their lead.

Shendelzare could see the trees moving from a distance, as if some big object was moving through.

"_Not again. Please, not again."_ Shendelzare thought to herself as she was running at full speed.

"Shendelzare, I think it might be him again!" Mirana shouted as she tried to catch up to Shendelzare.

They had almost reached the forest and Shendelzare could see the movement of the trees moving further and further away. Shendelzare knew what she had to do and went full speed through the forest. Behind her was Mirana, she did not follow her general.

"Quickly, follow this lane, now!" Mirana shouted at the members of the Sentinel behind her. Mangix was the first one to run in and the rest followed, some stayed behind. Mangix was running as fast as he, to show off his capabilities. He could see Shendelzare in the forest next to him running after a huge object that was moving the trees. He tried to look what the object was, while he was still running at his full speed. He focused his eyes on the movements in the forest. The moving trees stopped. Mangix was still running but was now wondering where it could've went. He heard the loud collapsing of a tree and he looked before him, a gigantic undead monster went past in front of him with something red in his arms. Mangix could not breathe and he fell as the creature went by and Shendelzare and the rest followed it further into the woods. Mangix' mind went to zero.

Colors were flying around everywhere and Mangix could them shining. He was not aware of where he was or what he was seeing.

"Mangix"

And what was that constant repeating voice?

"Mangix…"

Was he going insane?

"Mangix, wake up!"

Or was he dead?

"Mangix wake up!" Mangix felt the fresh flow of a river running down his face, which shocked and surprised him, causing him to rise. He was in a bed and he was soaked by water.

"Finally, if that hadn't done the trick, I would be afraid you'd been gone into a mini-coma!" An orc said with his back facing to Mangix.

"W-where am I?" Mangix asked carefully, looking around him, observing his current location. He saw the bed he was laying on, the green leather of the tent, a table, a chair, a little cabinet and an orc which seemed vaguely unknown to Mangix.

"In my tent, of course, Shendelzare commanded me to treat you; you're fine now, so disappear!" The orc said, writing something down on the table he was sitting. Mangix was very confused. First he was in the so-it-seemed afterlife and now he's in a tent with an orc?

"Who are you then?" Mangix asked with an urging tone in his voice. The orc turned around now, showing his face. Mangix remembered now and had a guess for where he was.

"Are you serious? You've forgotten already? I don't care, get out of my personal space, I have got my work to do and I'm sure you do as well." Razzil said angrily. Mangix stood up; he saw he was still in his clothes and he saw he was still in one whole piece.

"So, you treated me, Razzil?" Mangix asked, picking up his bag from next to the bed.

"Yes, our general ordered me to. Now go to her and ask what you must do, you're quite the nuisance, Pandaren." Razzil said, facing his back to Mangix, still writing something.

"Oh okay, thanks for that. I'll be off now." Mangix said, gave Razzil a smile but it was for naught, since Razzil did not respond or even look back at him. He went outside and came to meet Teldrassil at night. It was an even more spectacular sight than it was during the day. Mangix was amazed by the moon, the lights within the base, the wisps that were now glowing in the forests, even though there were only a few. Mangix was now aware that he had not yet seen the wonders of the world. But he had to focus now; he had to remember what had happened to him.

"Now, how did I end up in Razzil's tent and how did he have to treat me…" Mangix thought as he looked at the ground with a deep-thinking look in his eyes.

"Oh no, what if Razzil did not treat, what if he just took me out at night and" Mangix stopped with a frightened face. He froze for a while but then unfroze and went to a doubting face.

"No, actually, he's too grumpy for all that. I wouldn't even believe it if he told me himself." Mangix said to himself and thought some more. He stood still there for a few minutes, switching views between the forest, the moon and the towers.

"The last thing I remember was that I saw the humongous undead creature fly by me…" Said Mangix as his face went terrified after that.

"I… must've…"

"Greetings, Mangix!" Shendelzare fell in and interrupted him, nearly causing Mangix a heart attack.

"G-greetings, general…" Mangix said with a shock in his voice. Shendelzare walked in front of him and Mangix quickly reordered his face to a serious, determined one.

"Are you okay?" Shendelzare asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you." Mangix said as he avoided eye contact with Shendelzare, looking at the moon.

"Good. So tell me, what exactly happened out there today?"

Today… Mangix thought that a day had passed already. Well, he felt like it did.

"Well, general…" Mangix started off slowly as he tried to use his convenient creativity to make up another lie. He looked at a few of his allies drinking at a campfire.

"I had a little too much beer today and…" Then he looked at the chopped edges of the logs inside the campfire.

"The collapsing tree shook me…" He witnessed one of his allies throwing up.

"So I had to throw up." Mangix finished off and had a relief in his mind.

"What did speak of as the last?" Shendelzare asked.

"I had to…" Mangix stopped with an unprepared face, realizing his mistake.

"I had to fall, as nature's forces dragged me down and I feinted… I think." Mangix quickly recovered, now hoping Shendelzare would accept this.

"Okay, I think I misunderstood that before. Speak to Mirana; she will give you more information on your task. We will start this at sunrise. I have no time now, so Mirana will help you instead." Shendelzare said and walked on through the base until Mangix could not see her anymore.

"That was close…" Mangix said to himself and he wiped a little sweat of his fur. Shendelzare or anyone else could not know that he had truly lost consciousness out of shock that day. It would give them a sign that Mangix is inexperienced and give anyone reason to believe that he is not the warrior he says to be. Mangix had to be careful. This was not water he was playing with, this was fire.

He saw his allies cheerfully at the campfire once again. He knew that they had time to get to know each other. Mangix didn't. Neither did the slayer because she got taken so Mangix wouldn't be the only one with a social uphold. Wait, was he thinking? She got kidnapped into the forest, as Mangix saw her in the hands of that horrid big creature. He doesn't remember a well detailed look of it; he just knows it was gigantic. Wait how he was so sure she was still alive… Shendelzare must've been talking about a rescuing operation for Lina.

"Hmm, I should go now, to find out my objectives. I can at least try to help for the poor Lina." Mangix said as he started walking. He looked up at the moon and faces the beautiful shining reflection of it.

"For all we know, she's in that monster's hands." He passed a campfire; he had his backpack casually hanging over his shoulder, held by his hand. He looked right and the group of his allies all stared at him, all giving him a rather cold and cruel look. Mangix was quite surprised and felt attacked by this act. Why would they be like this to him? They had no reasons, just because Mangix is the only one who did not make friends yet.

"_Whatever." He thought to himself with an angry mood now. "I'm not here to make friends; I'm here to experience the adventure of my life! Also to save the world."_ and he walked on persistently with an angry face.

"What can you experience if you do not enjoy your time being here?" A dark voice said. Mangix stopped his walking, looked around but spotted no-one near him.

"Who said that?" Mangix asked into the open around him.

"Me… There's no need to worry, my friend. I'm a mere stranger." Suddenly a man came out of a shadow from one of the tents. He was wearing a cloak and a black robe, Mangix could not meet his eyes. He seemed a very dark figure and Mangix was quite intimidated by this image.

"W-what were you talking about?" Mangix asked with a very careful tone and his face changed from an angry one to a concerned one.

"'I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to experience the adventure of my life!' That is what you have thought, correct?" The man said and a wave of fear and surprise hit all Mangix' organs.

"_How could he read my mind?" Mangix thought to himself with big fear in his eyes._

"Who are you?!" Mangix asked uncoordinated. He was shocked and panicked, did not know what else to do. Who was this person? The man moved from in front of the tent closer to Mangix.

"There's no need to get scared, Mangix. Relax. I'm not here to harm you; I'm merely a… messenger." The man said and Mangix could smell the dark grin that came from his covered face.

"Alright… What do you want from me? How do you know my name? How did you read my mind?" Mangix asked carefully and worried. The man chuckled.

"That's quite a lot of questions for this time, don't you think, Mangix? I'll answer the first one. I'm here to give you a messenger, as I am a messenger." The man said calm. He seemed very confident and that reduced Mangix' confidence every moment since the man revealed himself.

"What message are you giving me?" Mangix asked, still with a thousand questions in his mind.

"I just wanted you to know that the capturing of your friend, or more, was not an act of the Scourge, Mangix." The man said. Mangix did not believe what he heard.

"Sure it isn't! Who are you, the Lich King's servant? You're pathetic excuse won't make up for it!" Mangix exclaimed outrageously.

"I am not, actually. It is not an excuse, it is rather the truth. We have members amongst the Scourge who aren't able to be controlled at all times. As long as they do not bother us, we will not banish them. Even if I was lying, even then, what would you do about it?" The man asked and moved slowly towards Mangix.

"I would fight you and defeat you! Don't come closer!" Mangix said, trying to threaten the man but failed. Instead, Mangix moved back.

"Fight me? Come on, Mangix. We both know that that would not be the case." The man said with a dark twist to his cold voice. He stopped moving towards Mangix now.

"I should be going now. If you will tell anyone about this acquaintance, I tell you, they will not believe you, so do not even think of attempting such." The man turned around with his back facing Mangix.

"Okay" Mangix said with sweat pouring down his fur. "Is t-which really all you came out here for?"

"No." The man said. Mangix was surprised as he expected a 'yes'.

"I also… wanted to meet you again, Mangix." The mysterious figure said. Mangix shivered as the cold words came from the man's mouth. The man chuckled and then he disappeared in an eye blink. Mangix was traumatized by the events that had happened that day. The hideous creature earlier that day already mentally fractured him but this event had even worse effects. Mangix collapsed and held onto his knees. He sat in the darkness alone. Is this really what he will only be doing during this journey? Or will he go back out of fear? Or will he die in a mere battle against the Scourge? Mangix' mind was conquered by darkness. He thought about how bad things will end up for him. He sat alone…

"Wait." He thought to himself, let go of his knees, stood up and picked up his backpack. "This is what the Scourge wants. They are darkness but I will not let them win. I will give my life for this quest!" He thought to himself as he adjusted his straw-hat to a tilted-forward position for a grim look. He wiped off the sweat that was on his facial fur and walked on.

"_I don't care about the filthy Scourge. I'll just ignore this event because I'll just be falling into their trap." _Mangix thought as he saw Mirana coming closer and closer to his sight. She was at the main campfire at a table, writing something down.

"_But wait, what did that freak mean by 'I also wanted to meet you again, Mangix'?"_ Mirana's mount was sleeping besides her, next to the cozy campfire.

"_Probably just another mind game he tried to play on me. Whatever! I don't care; now let's see what Mirana has for me." _

Mangix threw his backpack on the breezy grass as he was right behind Mirana. Mirana noticed the sound and turned around.

"Ah, hello, uh…" Mirana stopped.

"Mangix." Mangix helped her out.

"Ah yes, Mangix. Thank you. We have little operation for tomorrow to save Lina Inverse as every member of the Sentinel is vital." Mirana said as she fully turned her body on the chair.

"I'm listening." Mangix said. He had a very determined mind now. He had enough of being scared or doubting himself. He wanted to be confident and to be strong.

"Alright, we'll start moving out at sunrise, so this is what you have to do." Mirana said and took one of the papers from the table to show Mangix.

"Okay, so what do I have to do at sunrise?"


	5. Chapter 5: Forces unleashed I

**Defenders of the Ancients**

**The war between the vigilant Sentinel and the unstoppable Scourge**

**Chapter 5: Forces Unleashed, Part I**

Mangix was fast asleep as the sun was rising. It had rained that night and all the leaves of the trees and the grass were wet. The little drops of water reflected the sunshine beautifully and gave a stunning sight. Mangix opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times to activate his eyelids. He sat up and let out a long yawn. He got up, made his bed and put on his suit. His backpack was already set before he went to sleep so he picked it up and went out. Some of his allies were already out of their tents, some of them were still asleep, thought they had to wake up in a few minutes. Mangix walked to the main campfire, which was close to the World Tree. Mangix' tent was in the middle of the whole base so he had no trouble walking there. He felt pity for the ones that had their tents close to the defense towers because they had to walk the furthest and if the Sentinel would get ambushed, they'd be the first victims. Although Mangix had a rough night before, he was done questioning himself. He was determined, as it showed on his face. He looked up at the sun and saw a few small clouds in the sky, it was a sunny day. He reached the campfire and took the teapot a filled the cup he got from his backpack. He was still sleepy and dreamy, not very concentrating. He felt as if he changed, he did not want to be the weakling anymore; he wanted to be the hero.

"Move" A deep voice suddenly said, coming from behind Mangix. Mangix got scared and pulled out the sword from his back, quickly turned around, only to see that there was no one. He was surprised and confused, turned back to the campfire to pick up his cup but then saw a creature in green clothes and two blades on his back standing in front of the campfire.

"Relax, I won't harm you," The creature said. "For now..."

Mangix pointed the sword with one arm at the creature. The creature turned around and Mangix recognized him as a draenei.

"Nice sword. Don't trouble me." The draenei said and smoothly walked past Mangix. Mangix watched the draenei fade into the distance of the camp. He put his sword on the ground and collapsed onto the grass. He picked up his cup and refilled it. Mangix still had his serious face. He looked at his tea, made with his own plucked herbs from Pandaria and took a sip. It tasted delicious. He saw that everyone was gathering at the outer defenses and he knew what time it was. Pandaria had the best tea leaves in the whole world, Mangix was sure. Pandaria… His home country, yet it all seems so vague to him. He doesn't remember his childhood very well. He remembers that his parents disappeared before he got to know them and that he lived with the elders.

"The elders…" Mangix thought to himself with a little smile. "I wonder what they'll say when they find out about what I've done…"

He stood up, put his cup and his herbs back into his backpack and picked up the sword. Just as he was about to put the sword on his back, he looked at it. He didn't realize he was carrying this whole time, strange. He put the sword back and started walking to the outer lines of the camp. He put his big straw hat a little to the forward so his eyes would be hidden, that's how his mood was; mysterious and righteous. He didn't care for his allies; he had to focus on his tactics, techniques and combat. Nothing else mattered. He almost reached the defenses and it was crowded with the other heroes. He didn't see Shendelzare or Mirana, though.

"Where is Furion? We need him for this." Shendelzare said in her tent where Mirana was, as well, to wake her up.

"I don't know, he said he would return with the strongest of the good yet he did not come." Mirana said.

"We can still continue without him, am I right?"

"Yes. Let's go, general, we have come late already." They got out of the tent and Mirana did not bring her mount as he was too precious to her to risk for losing. Shendelzare approached the defenses as Mirana started shouting out to gather everyone.

"EVERYONE, COME HERE, YOUR GENERAL WILL ANNOUNCE THE START." Mirana repeatedly shouted out and it dragged everyone's attention.

"Finally" Mangix thought to himself as he walked closer to Shendelzare, where a crowd had already formed.

"Shendelzare," A deep voice said, "I don't like these crowds. It is a sign of disorganization." It came from a blue-skinned male warrior with a lance. He seemed powerful to Mangix.

"Well, if I had never asked for these crowds, I would not be causing this disorganization, would I?" Shendelzare replied.

"You are supposed to lead us."

"You are all strong chosen warriors, I would expect you to be able to handle yourselves." And the blue man was quiet now.

"Now, I will commence the start of our operation, you all know what to do, we need to annihilate this undead abomination that lures in the forest, as you all know." Shendelzare paused for a moment, looking around her.

"I have to inform you that Furion, our great leader, could not be present for unknown reasons. This does not change our plans as they can still continue without him." Shendelzare said. She looked back at Mirana, who nodded her head. She turned back to the Sentinel's heroes.

"Now go." And the whole army disappeared.

"Do you think they'll be fine?" Mirana asked Shendelzare as they saw the last few ones running off into the forests.

"Yes." Shendelzare replied and started walking back to the main campfire. Mirana caught up with her.

"But you shouldn't, we haven't even seen all of their capabilities in combat yet, we don't even know who to trust or who will survive, this was a very rushed decision, general, with all due respect, but I don't think our new 'colleagues' will be able to come back. Who knows that abomination will do to them! This operation is a failure." Mirana said with a very angry tone. Now she waited for Shendelzare to reply, as they were still walking. Mirana was staring at Shendelzare, whose face was as blank as always.

"Well?"

"It's not like we have much of an option, High Priestess, is it now?" Shendelzare responded calmly.

"These are the heroes that were chosen by their people, it doesn't matter, and they're the best we can get. What do you want me to do when a member is kidnapped and most assumable killed, just let them be? That is what we have done last time and that is not what we stand for, Mirana." Mirana felt regret now and her face changed from angry to sorrow.

"No, we did not see them do combat yet, but if we hadn't this operation, would we ever properly see it? High Priestess, think about the situation I'm in right now. Let's just hope that Elune's blessed us with great warriors and that neither I nor Furion will have to deal with that maniac Varian."

Mirana understood very well what Shendelzare meant.

Mangix saw his team's partners running with him to their given location; they seemed more agile than him, although he was speeding as one of the fastest. He found it strange. His team members were all mysterious to Mangix, he only knew Rexxar, which was the only one he could identify. He saw that they were coming close the assigned location and the group started slowing down as they approached the spot. It was in the middle of the forest on the territory of the Scourge, the dead forest. They stopped sat down, as they only had to wait. Their group had one of the most important tasks, taking down the abomination. The other groups had to back the group up if they had not succeeded; they were all close behind them, concealed. One other group had to go and run the abomination into the trap so their operation could be successful. They knew its exact location because of an archer that had set out the night before into the woods to find out where he was resting. They hoped it didn't change locations because the search was only hours before that time. The abomination was still there, as the first group saw him sleep (the group that was assigned to run the abomination into the trap).

"Maybe," One of the first group's members said. "If we kill that abomination by ourselves, we'll get credit." It was a dryad who said this. She had Cenarius' arm, which amazed quite a lot of people. She was armed with a lethal-looking spear. She looked at the rest of her group, who did not even look at her.

"We follow what Shendelzare tells us." Yurnero said. He was meditating, once again. The group was concealed in the bushes and they were waiting for the right moment.

"He be right, man. When we gonna attack this thing? What we waitin' fo'?" A troll warrior asked. He had a powerful looking spear; he had black skin and red hair. He looked violently at the rest of his group. They did not answer nor respond.

"Pf. Trolls should be put on this job, not otha races like these pathetic numbskulls, man…" He said, yet the rest of the group still ignored him. This aggravated him.

"I SAID THA"

"We are waiting for the right moment." Yurnero interrupted the irritated troll.

"You seem to have a very short temper."

The troll got mad.

"When we get back to tha camp, you gonna be sorry for what you said, man" The troll said with a threatening sign. Yurnero was still meditating, letting out a little laugh after the troll said his sentence.

"Calm down, both of you" The dryad said. "I think this might be the right moment, the abomination is lying facing the other way, so we can easily move out our group to exactly run him to the given location, where the second group is waiting." The rest agreed and they surrounded the abomination from one side, hoping things would go right, or else it would be another pointless chase, like the one that happened the day before. The positioned the very best they could with only a small group, which wasn't quite an easy job to do. They had formed a semi-circle around the sleeping abomination in the direction towards where Mangix' group lay, waiting for their prey. They didn't see Lina, the slayer anywhere, but that was not of importance, they had to run, scare and kill. The whole group around the abomination spread a little further. The one in the middle, which was the troll berserker, had to assault first, starting the run. They would lead the abomination into Mangix' group, so the abomination would be completely surrounded by the heroes and the rest of the team would be there, would things go wrong. They already passed this point of finding and tracking down the abomination, they were practically done already. Silently assassinating a great hero of the scourge was not hard.

"Here we go," whispered the troll berserker quietly, while he prepared his spear for assault. During the run, they had to damage and slow the abomination as much as possible as well. The troll ran towards the abomination, shouting out loud his battle cry, it scared a lot of people because of all the silence and the sudden interruption.

"DIE FROM MY RACE, MAN!" shouted the troll berserker out and prepared for an impaling attack with his spear on the still sleeping abomination.


End file.
